Lubricated valve



Juil/24, 1951 F. 'rRATzlK 2,562,003

LUBRICATED VALVE Filed June l0, 1946 6' SEE lgm QT Patented July 24, #1951 LUBRICATED VALVE Frederick `Tratz`ik-"Decat Y Mueller o.," Decatur, wIll.,

. '-Applicationsune 1o, 194ey senalNo. 675,658 v 1 .The present invention valves. f

. Objects of the invention are to provide a valve which includes an arrangement to automatically pressure, and `.whichinay be readily operated' even when used with extremely high line pressures.

Other objects and advantages of the invention willbe apparent from thefollowing specification and accompanying drawings wherein:

Figure 1 is an axial section through a valve of the present invention,

Figure 2 is an lelevation of a Figure 3 is a developed View of the valve casin memberseating surface. i Referring to Figure 1, the numeral I0 designates the valve casing member which is provided with a flow passageway, including an inlet I2 and an outletv |3. .lv A taperedvalve seat bore I4 extends transverselyiof the ilow passageway the larger end of theseat bore openingtoa chamber |6which is closed at its outer end bya plate or cap I'l secured in position by means vof bolts. A gasket may be, provided betweenthe plate and casing member.v A` stop, block,l not shown, may `extend upwardly fromthe plate.

.to, limit rotation of; Vthe valve plug or velement through 90",., f v The smaller end, Zuof the seat lbore 4.Ill also extends throughthefcasing member p l0 but .is closed by a bossed,` plate 2| secured tothe casing by circumferentially spaced bolts, Plate 2| includes abore 23 of ya smaller `diameter than the smaller end of the seatbore I4.4 l Y A tapered plug or valve member 25 is mounted in the seat bore lll, the plug including;a flow port`2t.r The smaller end ofthe plug2 5visy` so formed as to cooperate with a simlarnstructure provided `on the inner end of an operating stem 30.. This arrangement, which causes the. plug or. valve elementto initially move axially ,when any rotating force is applied thereto, is, described in detail inthe applicationof Walter- J .,Bowan andv Frederick Tratzik, for Valves,v Serial,` No. 611,465, led August 20, 1945, which matured v to Patent No. 2,510,494 lon June 6, 19750, For the purpose of the present invention, this operating arrangement may bedescribed as follows; 4the smallerend of theplug includes a pair of d iaf metlcally .ODDOt and C@IlelV olQal/Qam surfaces 3| each oivwhichv is of Vfshapedform, As shownin Figure 1,the cam surfaces4 3| arel in clined4 at an. acute angle to .a radius ;0f the Plug,

valve plug, ,and

e claims; (Giang-esi Y relates to vlubricated with their point of greatest depthv at the seating surface ofthe plug.

' The cam surfaces 3| extend through an arcbf somewhat less .than and, at their. ends,L have shoulders lextending upwardly to the flatend s urr-v face ofthe plug.- ;Midway between the camsu'r: faces 3l, that-end 0f the plus iS provdedjwih diametrically opposite recesses or pockets, 34 wi'iichl extend `radially .of the plug. 'I *hediaf metrically opposite cam surfaces 3| and the diametrically opposite recesses 34 are arranged about a circular line concentric with the plug axis. The radiallyinner edges of the cams 3|, may be defined by a centralsocket 36 in the plug. Ihe end .shoulders of vthe cam surfaces 3| and Athe end walls of the recesses 34 lie in planes which 4lie ontheaxisoftheplug- I The operating-stem or element 3|)` is equipped with two concave, arcuate and .V-shaped `cam surfaces 38, eachy lof which will normally lie directly opposite therespective plugcam surface 3|.. As shown in l'igure 1, two diametrically op, posite projections 39 4are integral with the stem 30, vthese projections and an adjacent camsurfaceV 38;'being spaced 90? so that a projection 3 9 .will extend intoeach recess 34 of the plug. Each projection 39 includes a shoulder at each end thereof..and ,these shoulders glie in planes which lieron, the axis of thel stem. As isi-explained the aboye-mentioned--Bowan and 'I'ratzikl application,..the;projections 39 are of a length c ircunn ferentially-of the, plug which is, less than .the cor, responding dimension of the recesses 34, Inths waylthe;.projec tions gyhave a loose fit with re;- spect to the vrecesses and circumferentially. of the plug and operating element 3l). A roller; ll| ;i s positioned between, ;each pair of yaxially opposed camV surfaces 3land 38, the rollers being tapered to;jconform to the surfaces of `thevcams and rounded attheiroutergends so that they will have asingle point bearing upon the ,inner cylindrical surface-oa holding ring yil which ms about-the inner end ,of-:the operating stemor element 30.. The trollers- 40 are held in proper position radially of the'cam'surfaces `by the ring l||` and, because the rollers. are tapered, noothersecuring means isvrequired to maintain them-in position...

As shownlinligurel, the operating stemfBriS of. reduced .diameter at its outerv end to provide an outwardly-facing shoulder thereon within `the bore 23 of Vbossedplate 2|, and a roller bearing assembly is positionedl betweene this shoulder and a retainer sleeve 42. Retainer sleeve 4 2- is threaded inthe bore 23 ofthe plate 2| and,l at'its Outer end,`.is ,provided with `flat lateral, ,surfaces,

not shown, adapted to be engaged by a suitable wrench. Stem 30 extends outwardly beyond the sleeve 42 and may be squared as indicated at 43 to receive an operating handle or wrench. Sleeve 42 serves to hold stem 30 against outward movement.

As best shown in Figure 3, the seating surface I4 of the valve casing member In is provided with four C-shaped grooves 46, 47, 48 and 49, respectively. The longitudinal extending portions of these grooves are spaced ninety degrees apart about the seating surface but the free ends -of the circumferentially extending portions of each C-shaped groove are spaced from the 'longitudinal portion of the next adjacent C-shaped groove.i

It will be observed from Figure 3 that the grooves 4 end of the operating stem 30 to rotate the latter. As is described in the above-mentioned Bowan and Tratzik application, Ser. No. 611,465, the initial rotation of the stem 36 will cause the plug to move axially so that it will be slightly unseated. When the plug has been suiciently unseated to overcome resistance to turning, it will vthen rotate with the stern 30, generally by engagement ofthe lugs 39 with the side walls of the recesses 34. When the plug is moved axially as has just been described, and with the line pressure acting upon the inner surface of the diaphragm, a high pressure will be exerted upon the lubricantin the chambers 6| and i6, thereby 46 and 48, respectively, enclose the inlet 'passage f I2 and outlet passage I3, and that each passage is equidistantly spaced between the longitudinal portion of two grooves.

Asbest shown in Figure 2, the va1ve1'plug25 has four short grooves 55 equidistantly spaced about its small end at a point between the small end of Kthe plug and the iiow port 126. vThese grooves are only of suflicient lengthcircumierentially of the plug that they will bridge the-corresponding' ends of the C-shap'ed grooves when the plug is in either open-or closed position. The large end of the plug has -four short arcuate grooves 56-equidistantly spaced thereabout at a point between the large end of the plug andthe ow port 26. Two -diametrically opposed short grooves 56 have ducts 5l extending therefrom to the large end of the -plug andthe chamber I6. Thisgroove system seals both axial ends of .the seating surfaces and also encloses ports I2, I3 and 26 in open or closed position of the-plug..

As is shown in Figure 1,V the larger-end of the plug 25 .is recessed and a cap 58 is threadedv in the recess. A diaphragm or impulse member 59 `is secured in .the recess and an aperture 60 in cap 58 placesthe space or chamber 6| outwardly of V'the diaphragm in communication with the chamber i6 dened `between the larger end of the plug and the plate Il. An axialport 62 ex- 'tends from the diaphragm-carrying recess .to the plug flow port 26 and the plugalso includes a small radial bore .63 extending from its flow port to its seating surface. Bore 63 is so positioned with respect to the 90 path of rotationot the plug that when the plug is in closed position, as shown Vin Figure 1, bore 63 will extendV to the `inlet I2 of the valve. By these arrangements. the inner surface of diaphragm 59' will besublect to line .pressure in either open or closed position of thepl-ug.

l -In use, the lubricating groove system vwill-be lled with grease by a pressure gun. connected to a grease fitting chamber 65, the grease then moving through a radial passage 66 tothe vchamber I6. From .the latter, vthe supply .of grease fwill move through. the aperture 60 vto the-.chamber 6I and also through the passages 5lv in the plug to the C-shaped grooves. Enough grease `vvillxbe `supplied throughA the grease fitting chamber 65 .to entirely ll thegroove system as wellas the chambers i6 and 6I and thereby force diaphragm 59 to thefdistended postionshowninigure l.

With the entire grease system lled withlubricant,.line pressure acting 4through bore 62 will exert pressure upon diaphragm y59 and thereby .upon the grease in chambers 6| and i6 to hold the plug rmly seated.

When the plug is to be operated, a suitable voperating elementwill be fitted vupon the outer `forcing additional lubricant from these chambers to the seating surfaces of the valve. This additional lubricant will enable the plug to be more readily rotated and will also increase the supply of vlubricant on the seating surfaces to thereby maintain these surfaces properly sealed.

Movementof lubricant from the ychambers I6 and 6l by the axial movement of the plug just kdescribed naturally will result ina loss of lubricant from chambertl. This will be compensated for by the pressure -on the inner surface of diaphragm 59. IElhat is, when the plug Aagain reaches anv axial position such Aas approximated inrFigure 1., the line pressure acting on the inner surface of diaphragm will force the latterloutwardly (or downwardly as viewed in Figure 1) thereby maintaining. the lubricant in theen'tire system under properpressure. It eventually -will be .necessary to furnish additional lubricant to the chambers through the grease gun fitting supporting chamber 65. However, large valves used in high pressurelines are notoperated at frequent intervals and a long .period of time may passbefore the supply of lubricantin the chambers isso reduced as to require replenishment.

In order to prevent .leakage between-the retainer sleeve 42 and the bossed plate 2i, a packingl ring 61 of the character described in the above-mentioned Bowan and Tratzik application' vis provided between rthese two surfaces. Leakagealong the stem 3i) is prevented rby a packing ring 68 corresponding to that described in Vsaid..application. As is also explainedin the above-mentioned application, the ring 6l is of such character that the retainer sleeve `42 may be slightly backed out to permit some play vbe tweenthe cams P38 and the rollers `40 so that the valve plugmay be fully seated, all .without permitting leakage vpast packing 6l. s

`The terminology used in the specification is for the purpose of description and not oflimitation, the scope of the invention beingfdefined in the claims.

I claim:

1. In a valve, a casing member provided with a llow passageway and a tapered seat bore,a tapered ported plug mounted in the seat boreya lubricant chamber recessed within the larger end of `plug'and' open to said larger end, an impulse member' within the lubricant chamben'passages entirely within said plug through which fiow'line pressure `will act upon the side of said impulse member which faces toward the small end of the plug, a second lubricant chamber open to the larger end of the seat bore, the second lubricant chamber having a radius at least as great as the greatest dimension of the seat bore, a lubricant groove system inthe valve seating surface and in receiving relation to the second lubricant chamber, and means vto Ymove said plug axially into the second lubricant chamberduring initial rotation of the plug to thereby force lubricant from the chambers and into the groove system.

2. A valve of the character dened in claim 1 wherein said impulse member is a diaphragm.

3. A valve of the character defined in claim 1 including means to supply lubricant to the second chamber from the interior of the casing member.

FREDERICK TRATZIK.

l le of this patent:

Number Number 6 UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date I Nordstrom Dec. 29, 1936 Aikman Jan. 23, 1940 Mueller June 8, 1943 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Great Britain Aug. 5, 1926 Great Britain May 3, 1938 Germany Mar. 20, 1930 

